Nano-scale fluidics (hereinafter “nanofluidic”) is an emerging field of study that has significant technological advantages. For example, the interaction of biomolecules (such as DNA) with nanostructured channels having dimensions close to the persistence length of a molecule (˜50 nm) permits an entirely new way of detecting and separating molecules. In fact, the unique fluid behavior at nanoscale dimension promises many new applications, assuming fabrication of nanofluidic channels can be simplified and made more cost effective.
Despite the relative ease of constructing nanoscale structures, the sealing of these nanoscale structures into functional nanofluidic channel devices often leads to many technological challenges. For instance, known methods of constructing sealed “micron-scale” fluidic channels typically include anodic bonding of a glass coverslip or soft elastomeric material to prefabricated channels on a substrate. The high temperature and high voltage typically used in the anodic bonding process greatly limit the process to commercial applications; while the bonding of soft elastomeric material, such as PDMS, to nanofluidic channels being about 100 nm or less in size often results in the partial or complete filling of the channel due to the rubber-like behavior of the soft elastomeric material.
As is known, sacrificial layer etching can also be used to form nanofluidic channels. However, the removal of this sacrificial layer in nano-channels is non-trivial. In fact, via holes are often necessary to reduce the time needed to remove the sacrificial layer to a reasonable duration, which consequently increases the device complexity and fabrication cost. Recent progress using non-uniform depositions, such as e-beam evaporation and sputtering, provides a flexible solution to this issue. Still this involves deposition machines and is a time-consuming and complex process that requires careful control of the non-uniformity during the deposition process.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a simple, convenient, and cost effective method of manufacturing nanofluidic channels. Furthermore, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a simple, convenient, and cost effective method of fabricating nanofluidic channels having dimensions down to approximately tens of nanometers capable to being used in low-cost and high-volume manufacturing. Still further, there exists a need in the relevant art to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.